Pride's Purge

Pride's Purge occurred on 6 December 1648 when the New Model Army, loyal to Oliver Cromwell and led by Colonel Thomas Pride, seized control of Parliament and ousted the MPs not loyal to either the Independent Puritans or the military Grandees. The coup resulted in the establishment of the pro-Cromwell Rump Parliament.

Background
Following the capture of King Charles I of England at Carisbrooke Castle at the end of the Second English Civil War in 1648, the Long Parliament offered lenient terms to the King, including the granting of Cambridgeshire estates and a financial sum to the King, as well as partially restoring his powers. This was done without the consent of the New Model Army, whose commander-in-chief Thomas Fairfax urged Oliver Cromwell to take the army and march on London rather than let Parliament negotiate a lenient peace with King Charles. Cromwell and other Independent Puritans were also concerned that the Presbyterian MPs would vote to establish Presbyterianism as the new state religion of England in the place of Anglicanism. On 1 December 1648, Parliament voted 129-83 to vote on the ratification of the Treaty of Newport, prompting Cromwell to launch the coup.

Coup
On 6 December 1646, Colonel Thomas Pride's Regiment of Foot and Nathaniel Rich's Regiment of Horse entered the House of Commons, awaiting the arrival of the members of Parliament. While many had been forewarned of the coup and remained at home, 45 MPs whose names were on Cromwell's list of targets were arrested by 12 December, with 25 of them being released before Christmas. The purge reduced the number of MPs from 507 to just over 200, leading to the formation of the pro-Cromwell "Rump Parliament". The Rump now had a majority which could reject the Treaty of Newport and instead vote to create a republic, the English Commonwealth; the Parliament had the King executed on 30 January 1649, abolished the House of Lords on 6 February and the monarchy a day later, and established a Council of State on 14 February. The Long Parliament would not be restored until 21 February 1660.